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Some Tidbits about Smell of Death

My latest book, Smell of Death, the fourth in the Rocky Bluff P.D. series has it’s roots in several places.

I began writing the series with the idea in mind of showing how the families of police officers and what goes on with them affects the job, and how the job affects the families.

Many of the characters, good and bad, in the first three books were inspired by the police officers and their families who lived in our neighborhood years ago. These were people we partied with, and I had coffee breaks with their wives.

Another inspiration was my son-in-law who was a police officer in Oxnard for 15 years and later lost his life as a deputy in El Dorado County. He bravely took me on my first ride-along; letting me follow him around as long as I promised not to tell anyone I was his mother-in-law.

When I moved to Springville, I went on two ride-alongs with officers of the Porterville P.D. Because I arrived early, I sat in on the shift change. When the men learned I was an author, they began telling stories, some of those stories have made their way into various books in the series, including one of the plot threads in Smell of Death.

I’m a member of the San Joaquin chapter of Sisters in Crime, and I dedicated the book to them and in particular to members and friends, Kate Anderson and Sunny Frazier. Both women were instrumental in bringing various law enforcement speakers to our meetings who also piqued my imagination.

Another strong influence on the writing of this series are the men and women who beong to Public Safety Writers of America, some active duty law enforcement, others retired.

Though I’ve certainly borrowed from real life, all the characters and situations are fictional though the people and men and women in the Rocky Bluff P.D. are quite real to me.

Anyone who is interested in learning more about Smell of Death, you can read the first chapter on my website: http://fictionforyou.com

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